Labs aren’t just research platforms. They’re also workplaces for principal investigators (PIs), researchers, technicians, support
staff and others who spend long hours and
often weekends in these buildings and spaces.

How their work environment looks, feels and
functions is critical to the performance of the
scientific organization. That’s why both institutional and commercial owners are beginning
to embrace a notion of lab design that goes far
beyond mere functionality. Key design trends
include sustainability and healthy environments, which are shown to improve comfort
and productivity, with benefits for the bottom
line and the planet. Other lessons in workplace
design are being considered, especially if they
have demonstrated notable improvements in
employee performance and retention.

Consider that PIs and researchers often spend
long hours in the lab, often facing deadlines and
other pressures that rival stressful occupations in
law, medicine and finance. It only makes sense
that a workplace that’s healthy, welcoming and
inviting will produce benefits for breakthrough
science just as in those other fields. Many of the
elements of this strategy are highly cost effective. Amenities—artwork, showers, cafés and
meeting spaces for informal collaboration—have
been shown to create a more effective workplace.

Sustainable elements such as ample natural daylight, outdoor views and natural finish materials
like wood can make the workplace more desirable and enjoyable, too.

Yet, there’s another dimension to lab design
that helps improve performance, reduce
absenteeism and improve recruitment and
retention efforts. It’s the use of organizational
branding—environmental graphics, theme
colors, logotypes and applied messaging—and
it contributes to strengthening the organization and creating a stronger connection
between the lab and the research team.

In a world that has seen a dramatic new
paradigm for employee satisfaction emerge
among companies like Apple and Google, a
number of research organizations are applying
ideas from non-science workplaces to their
labs. The use of branding—often combining
artwork, graphics and amenities—is found to
help establish or reinforce an organization’s
work culture and scientific mission. These
branding techniques tend to require a relatively small investment compared to the costs of
lab construction or benches and equipment;
yet they can yield surprisingly powerful dividends, often including the accelerated achievement of breakthrough science.

Branded labs can impart a “message of
culture” to visiting investors, benefactors and
grant providers—a fact that is widely considered the main reason to add branding into a
lab. Yet, there are other valuable internal benefits documented by research organizations
who have recently implemented a branded
environment, including:

• Improved employee satisfaction, morale and
productivity.

• Enhanced recruitment and retention results.

• Greater awareness and positive views of the
host research organization.

• Modest acceleration of measured achievement cycles.

RESISTANCE TO ENVIRONMENTAL BRANDING

In spite of the potential, the idea of branded
graphics in a lab is jarring to some. Many
people think of branded environments in terms
of restaurant chains or retail spaces, like the
Apple Store. It may seem counterintuitive that
an organization not trying to cultivate a broad
base of end-users or consumers should expend
effort on branding built space.

This was true in the outgoing paradigm,which considered culture and brand separate-ly: Brand was an entity’s outward, market-fac-ing manifestation, while culture spoke to aninternal expression of identity. The emergingapproach blurs the distinction betweenthesetwo, as workplaces are considered apt oppor-tunities for messagingand identity reinforce-ment. To demonstrate how this works forresearch environments,consider one cost-ef-fective case study that delivered specific andmeasurable benefits.

Stakeholders recently employed a branded
environment approach at YaleUniv.’s West
Campus Laboratory, located in New Haven,
Conn. At the helm, ahighly regarded PI
recruited as director for a new institute provided the impetus for a focuson design and
branding.

The new institute would occupy a former
Bayer Pharmaceutical research space,acquired
as part of the school administration’s expansion plans, necessitating a majorrenovation of
the outdated facility. In the planning phase,
the director engaged the NewHaven-based
architecture, art and advisory firm Svigals +
Partners to help the institutecreate a unique
space to match their mission and profile. The
ideal environment wouldestablish a clear
identity for the group based on its “culture of
goals and methods,”according to one team
member. A flurry of excitement in the science
world and mediacoverage surrounding the

Benefits of branding the lab

Branding elements are highly effective in lobby areas, where they’re seen by both visitors and staff. Image:
Svigals + Partners